Fear of fairy tale characters. Mythical creatures Fantasy creature that scares children

The consciousness of a child up to 5 years old is similar to that state of adults when you wake up in the morning and still do not have a very clear idea of where the dream is and where the reality is. In the same way, kids intertwine fairy tales, cartoons and everything that actually happens around in their world. As a result, in the head of children 2-5 years old with a rich imagination - and even more of those who are too familiar with TV and computer games - there will be a whole Monsters, Inc.

Very young children are usually found with fabulous creatures in a dream, but those who are especially impressionable may get scared while reading a fairy tale or watching a cartoon. Most often, the fear of fairy-tale characters appears after 2 years, when the child's psyche becomes complex enough for this, and the baggage of fantastic images has already accumulated. And the heroes of fairy tales "come to life" for the child and become part of his children's world.

The first to come to nightmares are the traditional images of the Wolf, Koshchey, Barmaley, as well as their modern counterparts from numerous cartoons, which the baby by this age already has time to see, oddly enough, if adults consider this acceptable - in a word, they are the first to appear male characters. If such creatures dream too often, then, most likely, the baby has a difficult relationship with his father - dad is too strict, quick-tempered, or too distant from the child, whom he considers still too small to spend much time with him.

Babai- a mysterious creature in the form of a scary old man who scares children.
“Bai-bai-bai-bai, the evening Babai came. Babai came in the evening, asked: "Give Lenochka back." No, we won’t give Lena, we need Lena ourselves.”
The name "Babai" apparently comes from the Turkic "baba", "babay" - an old man, grandfather. This word (perhaps as a reminder of the Tatar-Mongol yoke) denotes something mysterious, not quite definite in appearance, undesirable and dangerous. In the beliefs of the northern regions of Russia, Babai is a terrible, lopsided old man. He roams the streets with a stick. Meeting with him is dangerous for children.

By age 3-4 years appear and various female characters: Baba Yaga, witch, sorceress, etc. Their too frequent presence in the dreams of a child speaks of problems in relations with his mother.

Yaga- a pan-Indo-European goddess. Among the Greeks, it corresponds to Hekate - the terrible three-faced goddess of the night, witchcraft, death and hunting. The Germans have Perkhta, Holda (Hel, Frau Hallu). The Indians have no less terrible Kali. Perkhta-Holda lives underground (in wells), commands rain, snow and the weather in general, and rushes, like Yaga or Hekate, at the head of a crowd of ghosts and witches. Perkhta was borrowed from the Germans by their Slavic neighbors - the Czechs and Slovenes.

However, not all fantastic creatures scare children only at night: at about 4-5 years old, at the peak of imagination, they “come out of the dusk”, and the baby can be scared even during the day.

The listed characters most often reflect the fears or alienation of parents from children. Strict, rigid, emotionally cold parents, who despise such "weaknesses" as pity, sympathy, are associated in the child with evil, threatening fairy tale characters.

- Mom, don't yell at me like Baba Yaga!

- She is very scary and angry, like Baba Yaga!

Fairy-tale characters appear in the imagination of children who are afraid of being punished, because in fairy tales, as you know, Baba Yaga takes away naughty children for reprisal. Fear of punishment is mixed with fear. The stronger the child is emotionally attached to the mother, the brighter these fears manifest themselves. If the mother is not able to give spiritual warmth to the child, then emotional attachment becomes pathological, developing into emotional dependence in the future. Undoubtedly, we are always to some extent dependent on those we love, complete emotional independence means complete absence attachments, deep feelings, which in itself is a serious problem. However, emotional dependence, which has roots in childhood, can destroy the personality and even lead to suicide.

What to do when a child is afraid of fairy-tale characters?

1. Fear of fairy-tale characters - these are age-related fears characteristic of children from 3 to 5 years old, with age, these fears disappear. Have you seen adults who are afraid of Baba Yaga, Koshchei, etc.?

2. You can draw the one whom the baby is afraid of, and then give the creature his portrait to appease and make friends. But you can, and vice versa, arrange a solemn break drawing into small pieces. To understand which tactic to choose, ask the child what he would like to do with the picture.

3. All fears have one feature, including the fears of fairy-tale characters. While the fear is “invisible”, the child does not talk about it, it seems frighteningly huge to the baby, but as soon as the child has voiced it, said it, named it, the fear begins to decrease. It is important to help the child speak.

4. Fear is often provoked by parents who, carried away by the expressiveness of speech, artistically voice the role of the Wolf, forgetting about the little listener. A child may be frightened not by a character, but by the intonation that accompanies his actions. Therefore, be careful when choosing a fairy tale and when telling it. You should not read "terrible" bedtime stories (for example, "Bluebeard") to impressionable children. For sensitive children, the best medicine is good fairy tale, composed by mom or dad, where the child himself is easily guessed in the hero and his actions.

5. The best way to stop being afraid is to make evil funny. Indeed, today Baba Yaga is more of a comic heroine. In the Soviet cartoon about the adventures of brownie Kuzi, based on the fairy tale by T. Alexandrova, Baba Yaga is just a household housekeeping grandmother. In every fear, one should try to help the child see the funny. For example, imagine and draw Baba Yaga, who is trying on some ridiculous costume for her (a fireman, a diver) and is going to go to a festive carnival.

6. Empathizing with the heroes, children can respond to their fear by playing the roles of various characters: the Wolf, grandmother, etc. The best effect is given by this technique: first, the child plays the role of the one who is afraid (Little Red Riding Hood), then the one who is afraid (Wolf) , and then the one who is not afraid of anything (Lumberjack). You can play like this on the example of any fairy tale.

7. What seems rational to us adults only reinforces the child's fears. An honest "male" conversation with the son that there can be no Barmaley in the dark hallway under the bedside table is absolutely meaningless, since the child perceives and is afraid of the heroes of fairy tales as real personalities. Try to understand and accept the feelings and experiences of the child, talk to him about his fears:

- I see that you are afraid of this monster, let's go together and drive it away.

Kiss, relaxing and light massage at night - The best way calm the child.

8. You can come up with a child "magic" wordsguarding him. You can find a toy friend who is not afraid of anyone. Then the child will feel more secure.

9. You can play a fairy tale with your child or play with toys a plot about how an evil creature made friends with a boy or girl and became tamed, became good, or come up with a variant of a battle and victory over a formidable monster (this is not so constructive, but sometimes the idea of friendship is met by a child in bayonets).

What can't be done?

Use the monsters to your advantage. In no case do not intimidate the child with them, not with his fears - with this you will not achieve special obedience, and fix fears in the child's soul for a long time. A child with a stable psyche will simply stop believing in you. But an impressionable, nervous baby will remember your words for a long time, and in the near future you will encounter new problem- the need to treat fears and even neurosis.

Telling a child that at any moment a creature may appear that will take him, the opposite, you tell the baby that there are forces in the world that can, with impunity and without hindrance, make him feel bad, hurt and scared. In this case, everything will happen with the tacit approval of mom and dad.

Sources: N. Tsarenko "We read the thoughts of our children",
E.I. Shapiro “If a child has fears…”

Natalia Tsarenko "Reading our children's minds"

To buy in Labyrinth.ru

To buy in Ozon.ru

A deadly female creature. They call her in different ways: White Woman, Banshee, Succubus or vampire. She is one of the most ancient creatures found in Celtic mythology. This woman was described both in the legends of neighboring countries, and in distant African and Asian ones. In every mythology there is this insanely beautiful, but terribly dangerous demon woman. There is a popular Irish legend that still roams the northern European countries. Four young friends, having gone hunting, fell behind the general crowd. Lost, she went to a small house in the thicket of the forest, where they decided to rest.

The guys kindled a fire in the hearth and began to have fun: singing, dancing, telling funny stories. And then someone complained that there were no women with them. And then the doors opened, into which the painted beauties entered. The girls immediately joined the dancers, but after a while the picture changed dramatically. The women became brutalized and with overgrown claws began to tear the bodies of the unfortunate, drinking their blood to dryness. Only one guy managed to escape - the singer. He managed to get out of the terrible haven, hiding behind the horses, and the Banshees could not get him. The White Woman, like any fairies, is afraid of iron, and the horses' hooves were shod with iron horseshoes. The terrible night ended only at dawn, when the ugly creatures melted away in the first rays of the rising sun.

The Baavan Shi hunt at night, disguising themselves as beauties and seducing belated travelers. They are especially attracted to those who themselves recently acted as a beater of game - from such people an attractive smell of blood emanates. Banshees feed only on the blood of young guys; the blood of these creatures is not interested in anything. Before drinking blood, they dance with their victims, hypnotizing them. They can take part in the conversation, but give themselves away with a strong incomprehensible accent. Occasionally, hungry Banshees attack women, and then their victims turn into the same monsters. In addition to being a monster, the Baavan Shi take on the form of a wolf.

Black horseman

In the local dialect, he was also called Dullahan. It was he who served as the prototype for Washington Irving's story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". Dullahan is one of Death's helpers. If he stops his horse in front of one of the mortals, he will immediately die. The Black Rider seeks out the next suicide bomber with the help of his luminous head, which he wears either under right hand or in the saddle in front of you. The horse of the headless rider is no less phantasmagorical in appearance than its owner: its head is longer than its body, it has small ears and furious eyes. If one of the mortals decided to follow the Dullahan to find out the next victim, the rider threw a vessel with human blood at him, and he was blind in one eye. The rider's head looks disgusting. It resembles moldy cheese in color, decaying flesh is constantly peeling off it, and a creepy mocking grin divides its face in two. The head even has eyes, black and very small. There was an opinion that Dullahan is one of the incarnations of the Celtic god Kromm Oak. The only salvation from a creepy creature is a gold coin. Only she is able to keep the reaper of human lives at a distance.

Puka

The most terrible monster, a source of losses, damage, disasters and other troubles. Puka takes the form of a smooth-haired dark horse with yellow, devilishly glowing eyes and a long mane. A dirty creature tramples down crops, tears down fences at night, scares cattle. The cows stop milking and the chickens stop laying. The main omen of his appearance in the village: the sun, which came out in the evening after heavy rain, which poured all daylight hours.

In some areas, Puka was presented to the inhabitants in the form of a small goblin who came and demanded his share of the crop. The inhabitants left him wheat in advance. Puka also had other forms: the image of an eagle, a black goat and a giant hairy ghost. Pooka's main tasks: scare belated travelers by jumping on their backs and dumping them into the gutter; demand gifts from the owners of a house, and in case of refusal, take revenge for a long time, destroying the entire economy. True, Puka did not always bring only disasters. Sometimes he acted as a predictor, telling people about impending dangers and giving advice on how to survive. For this, people rewarded him with gifts. Sometimes, even to those owners who did not refuse gifts, Puka brought good luck and advised how to get rich. A typical representative of the neutral side, responding with evil to greed and good for good.

baby scarecrow

The name of a werewolf in some regions of Russia

An unsociable, gloomy person

One of the Solomon Islands

Fantastic creature invented to scare children

scarecrow for baby

Scarecrow to scare children

unsociable person

gloomy silent

Introverted person

unsociable

gloomy unsociable

Young unsociable

Unsociable that gloomy

sullen fellow

Typical unsociable

sullen man

Scarecrow to scare children

That's what they say about a frowning person

The man who avoids all

Extremely unsociable person

Biryuk, not a man

A person who avoids people

frowning unsociable

Difficult to communicate with him

Unsociable, rhyming with flour

Owl looking

Fantastic scary creature that scares children

unsociable person

About. (Tatar name Buka, Bukei?) an imaginary scarecrow with which reasonable educators frighten children; unsociable, bear, impregnable person, severe, gloomy; bukan m. bukonya about. hard. A beech-like person looks like a beech. Sib. to be shy, to squint, from sullenness or shyness

In the culture of every nation there are mythical creatures with both positive and negative qualities.

Some of them are known all over the world. Others, on the contrary, are familiar only to a specific ethnic group.

In this article, we present a popular list of mythical creatures with pictures. What's more, you'll get to know their origins as well as those related to them.

Homunculus

Faust with Homunculus

To do this, it was necessary to comply with many different conditions, with the obligatory use of mandrakes. The alchemists were sure that such a little man was able to protect his master from harm.

Brownie

This is one of the most popular mythical creatures in Slavic folklore. Most people know about him from fairy tales. Until now, some believe that Brownie can influence the life of the owner of the house.

According to the myth, in order for him not to harm any of the owners, he must be coaxed with various treats. However, this often backfires.

Babai

IN Slavic mythology it is a night spirit. Usually they scare naughty children. And although Babai does not have any specific image, they often talk about him as an old man with a bag in which he puts harmful children.

Nephilim

The Nephilim lived in pre-Flood times and are even mentioned in the Bible. These beings are fallen angels who once were seduced by the beauty of earthly women and entered into sexual relations with them.

As a result of these connections, the Nephilim began to be born. Literally, the word means "those who cause others to fall." They were very large in stature, and also distinguished by incredible strength and cruelty. The Nephilim attacked the people and caused great destruction.

Abaasy

Baavan Shi

In Scottish mythology, it meant a bloodthirsty creature. When a person saw a crow turning into a beautiful girl in a dress, it meant that Baavan shi himself was in front of him.

It was not for nothing that the evil spirit wore a long dress, because under it he could hide his deer hooves. These evil mythical creatures won over men, and then drank all the blood from them.

Baku

Werewolf

One of the most famous mythical creatures found in different peoples peace. A werewolf is a person who can transform into animals.

Most often, werewolves are. Such modifications can occur at the request of the werewolf, or in connection with the lunar cycles.

Viryava

The peoples of the north so called the mistress of the forests. She is usually depicted as beautiful girl. Viryava is served by animals and birds. She is friendly to people, and if necessary, she can help them.

wendigo

Wendigo is an evil ogre. He is an ardent opponent of any excesses in human behavior. He likes to hunt and surprise his victims.

When a traveler finds himself in the forest, this mythical creature begins to make frightening sounds. As a result, a person rushes to his heels, but he fails to escape.

Shikigami

In Japanese myths, these are spirits that the sorcerer Omme-do can summon. Despite their small size, they can possess animals and birds in order to control them later.

It is very dangerous for a magician to manipulate Shikigami, because at any moment they can start attacking him.

Hydra

This mythical creature is described in the work of the ancient Greek poet Hesiod. Hydra has a snake body and many heads. If you cut off one of them, two new ones immediately grow in its place.

Destroying the Hydra is almost impossible. She guards the entrance to the realm of the dead and is ready to attack anyone who gets in her way.

Fighting

In English mythology, the water fairies are so named. Turning into wooden saucers slowly floating on the surface of the water, they try to lure women into a trap.

As soon as a woman touches such a saucer, Drak immediately grabs her and drags her to his bottom, where she has to look after his children.

Sinister

These are pagan evil spirits in the myths of the ancient Slavs. They pose a great danger to humans.

Sinister pester people and can even move into them, especially if they are alone. Often these mythical creatures take the form of poor old people.

incubi

In the legends of many European countries, so-called male demons, thirsty for female love.

In some old books, these creatures were represented as fallen angels. They have such a high reproductive rate that entire nations have emerged from them.

Goblin

Most people know that the mythical creature Leshy is the owner of the forest, vigilantly watching all his property. If a person does not do anything bad to him, then he treats him friendly and can even help him find a way out of the thicket.

But he can deliberately make bad people walk in circles around his possessions, leading them astray. Leshy can laugh, sing, clap or sob. With the onset of cold weather, he goes underground.

Baba Yaga

One of the most popular characters in Russian fairy tales. Baba Yaga is the mistress of the forest, and all animals and birds obey her.

As a rule, she is presented as a negative character, but sometimes she can come to the aid of different heroes.

Baba Yaga lives in a hut on chicken legs, and also knows how to fly on a mortar. She invites children to come into her abode, so that later they can eat them.

Shishiga

Living in the forest, this mythical creature attacks lost people and then eats them. At night, Shishiga prefers to make noise and wander through the forest.

According to another belief, Shishigi love to mock people who begin to take on any work without first praying. From this follows the popular belief that they accustom people to the correct routine of life.

If you liked the list of mythical creatures with pictures - share this article in in social networks. If you like it at all - subscribe to the site IinterestingFakty.org. It's always interesting with us!

Liked the post? Press any button.

Fantastic scary creature that scares children

Alternative descriptions

baby scarecrow

The name of a werewolf in some regions of Russia

An unsociable, gloomy person

One of the Solomon Islands

Fantastic creature invented to scare children

scarecrow for baby

Scarecrow to scare children

unsociable person

gloomy silent

Introverted person

unsociable

gloomy unsociable

Young unsociable

Unsociable that gloomy

sullen fellow

Typical unsociable

sullen man

Scarecrow to scare children

That's what they say about a frowning person

The man who avoids all

Extremely unsociable person

Biryuk, not a man

A person who avoids people

frowning unsociable

Difficult to communicate with him

Unsociable, rhyming with flour

Owl looking

unsociable person

It might be useful to read: